Smoke-consumer



(No Model.) v J. L. HORNIG.

SMOKE CONSUMER.

No. 486,781 Patented Nov. 22, 1892.

wblimaoo 01 S ugmm (Mk/$366M Jiah usL- Ifomgig UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC JULIUS L. HORNIG, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

SMOKE-CONSUMER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 486,781, dated November 22, 1892. Application filed June 9,1892. Serial No. 436,143. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JULIUS L. HORNIG, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of St.

the accompanying drawings, hereof.

My invention relatesto the class of smokeconsumers' in which air is admitted above the grate-bars; and it consists in the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of dev ces hereinafter specified, and designated in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my invention applied to a horizontal .nace to a great degree.

brick-set boiler, parts of the setting walls being broken away. Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of the same, and Fig. 3 is a detail view of an air-heating tube made use of in,

carrying out the invention.

The object of my invention is to provide a very simple and efficient smoke-consuming attachment for boiler-fronts, which shall act as an accumulator of heat when'the fire-doors are in a closed position and as an air-warmer and distributer when said firedoors are opened, and thereby bring about the discharge of a more uniform and steady volume of heat beneath the boiler or through the flues thereof during operation. In ordinary boiler-furnaces devoid of any smoke-consumingdevice the production and discharge of smoke in burning bituminous coal has been during the passage of cold air into the furnace and over the .fire while the fire-doors were open in firing, and I have found that in such cases the prevention of the passage of cold air above the fire at such time will prevent the discharge of smoke from the fur- Therefore I have directed my invention to the prevention of the passage of cold air abovethe fire. Heretofore the proper regulation of the hot-air supply has been difficult and unsatisfactory and has caused loss and waste by admitting too much air above the fire, all of which has been obviated by my improved device, which I will now proceed to describe.

My invention consists, primarily, in placing'one or a series of air-heating tubes 1 in a horizontal position in the furnace, all preferably in the same plane where more than one is used, andin a plane a sufficient distance above the fire door or doors 2to permit of the attachment presently described- -The air-heating tubes 1 are preferably cylindrical in form, constructed of cast-iron or fire-clay, and of a sufiicient length to extend from the boiler-front 3 to a point closely adjacent to the bridge-wall 4 and the passage 5 above said wall.

The area of theopening through the airheating tube or tubes 1 should be about equal to that of the fire-door opening. I prefer to make use of a series oftwo or more of such tubes, as I find that the distribution of hot air' above the fire will be more perfectly brought about than ifa single tube were employed for the purpose, and besides a single tube of sufficient size would be so bulky in many cases that it could not be located in the space above the fire-doors and the bottom of the boiler.

The tubes 1 each have open ends .and a clear passage through them. They are each provided with a series of narrow slits 6, extending through the material, and located therein transversely of the tubes, and on 0pposite sides of each tube, so as to form sort of reticulated walls for said tubes. This purpose may be accomplished in any other suitable way-such, for instance, as by a series of perforations 7. (Shown in Fig. 2.) V

The slitted or perforated walls of the tubes I extend rearwardly to a point closely adjacenttheir inner ends; but their forward ends, fora purpose hereinafter mentioned, are imperforate and devoid of any slitsor other transverse openings. The imperforate portions of the tubes, which I will designate by the numeral 8, are those which are not subjected to as high a temperature as that to which their inner ends are exposed, and these portions are to be secured in suitable apertures 9 formed in the boiler-front 3, and additionally supported and protected by the usual fire-brick front and brickwork 10.

The tubes 1 are each preferably located horizontally with the passage therethrough in a direct line with the passage 5' abov'e the bridge-wall 4:, so as to form a more direct passage for air from the exterior of the furnace than is formed by way of the fire-doors 2, so as to bring about the result hereinafter stated. The front end of each tube 1 is preferably provided with laterally-projecting opposite perforated ears 11, by means of which said front ends may be secured to theboiler front 3, by means of suitable bolts or screws passing through the perforations of said ears.

The openings 9 in the boiler front are to be closed or partly closed by means of'a sliding plate 12, mounted in suitable guides 13, when the fire-doors 2 are closed, and opened or partly opened when said doors are opened. I; make the arrangement such that the fireman must open the apertures 9 and admit air above the fire before he can accomplish- This is done in the following manner, although, ofv course,

the opening of the fire-doors.

it maybe accomplished by any equivalent means-without departing frommy invention.

The sliding plate 12 is provided with an opening 14, which is adapted to registerwith one .of the openings 9 in the front 3 wheneverthe plate is in such position that all the other-like openings are uncovered. Said plate isalso provided with a downwardly-projecting'a-rm 15, which is of such length as to lie in frontv of one of the fire-doors in the path traversed by it in opening, and terminates in such positionthat it rests over and adjacent'th edoorlatch 16, and must be removed fromsuch path and vposition before said fire door can be opened or the latchraised. The arm 15- is provided with a suitable handle 17, of wood or other heat-insulating material, whiclrmay be grasped by the fireman insliding said The handle. 17, instead ofbeing 10-- cated on the arm 15, may in some instances;

plate.

beapplied directly to the sliding plate'l2.

Whether the fireman is expeditions in closing;

the fire-doors need not be provided for.

A single siidingplate 12 maybe used to cover and uncover the openingsto all'of the air-heating tubes of the series, said plate'be ing of course constructed of sufticient length for such purpose, and provided with an 'opening 14 for each aperture; or there may betwo ormore plates 12 of shorter length.

In some instances I may arrange the. arm

15 to normally hold the fire-door in a closed.-

position, by simply locating said arm a little nearer-the doorthan it ishereshown, sothat-t if the fireman desires to have hisfire-doors held in closed position, it will be essential for him to move'the arm into contact with said door or doors, which will have the effect of closing or partly closing-the apertures which,

admit air to the tubes uponthe interior of the furnace. By this construction the sliding of the plate 12 to such position as will admit air to the tubes is assured priorto the opening of the fire door or doors, and. the reverse movement of said plate is assured prior to the complete closing of said door or doors. This improvement operates, therefore, to-prevent streamsv of cold air being admitted above the tire, airupon the,;exterior of the furnace preferring to take the shorter route to the opening or passage 5 above the bridge-wall than to enter the furnace by way of the fire-doors.

Although the difierence in length of the routes through the air-heating tubes 1 and through the fire-doors is not great, yet I have "found it in practice to be sufficient for the purpose named.

The operation isas follows: The furnace,

be it a boiler-furnace or a furnace of any kind, being properly'connected to a source of draft, such as a chimney or smoke-staclg'and the 'fire' started upon the grate-bars, air will be drawn in through the tubes l when-the parts are in a position shown in Fig.- 1, and such air will be heated to a high temperature by passing through the hot tubes exposed to the action of the fire. Cold air entering the tubes and passing ther'ethroughexpands in volume and aiportion'of it passesdirectly through said tubes-f rom their forward to their rear ends and is discharged inahighly-h-eated condition at a point closely adjacent-to the opening above the bridge-wall, andits oxygennniteswith the carbon of the productsof combustion and consumes it and inagreat measure prevents the discharge of smoke .from thech inlney or smoke-stack. Otherporltions of the airwhich enters said'tubes and is expanded by heating is discharged through the slits6' in said tubes, and alsotassists in bringing about agood combustion at the point of disch'arge.- When'the fire-door or doors are opened for anypurpose whatever the openings to the tubes-1 must first have been uncovered. This permits air to enter said tubes and be started through them in a continuous stream toward the passage above the bridge-wall, in advance of the entrance of cold air by way of the fire-doors, leaving no possibility of any great amount ofeold airentering by way of the firedoors. Ooldairentering the tubes- 1 will prevent overheating thereof.

WhatIclaim is- 1. A portion of a furnace having a fire=door, an air-heating tube located in said furnace and constructed to discharge heated air'therein, and a device constructed to lock said door in a closed position when the passage leading to said tube is closed or partly closed, substantially as specified.

2. A furnace having a fire-door, an opening adjacent to said fire-door, an air-heating tube having one end connected with said opening tube being provided with-perforations, and a device constructed to prevent theopening of is in closed position to project over and lock said fire-door prior to admission of air to the the doors in closed position, substantially as said tube, substantially as specified. and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, with a furnace coxn- In testimony whereof Iaffix my signature in 5 prising a fire-box and doors opening therein, presence of two witnesses.

said furnace being provided in its front with an air inlet or inlets located above said doors, JULIUS L. HORNIG.

of a horizontally-adjustable slide for closing Witnesses: said inlet or inlets, and an arm depending ED. E. LONGAN, 10 from said slide and adapted when the latter HERBERT S. ROBINSON. 

